Why websites usually beat apps
Mobile app stores from Apple and Google check apps for safety. Their verification is good, but not foolproof.
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Once you download an app, however, app creators have the freedom to collect information that websites typically can’t easily obtain, including your approximate location, battery level, and what other devices like Xbox are connected to your WiFi. Apps may share the information with advertising companies and data brokers.
Apple and Google require apps to ask for your permission to collect location and share information. (In 2021, my colleagues studied iPhone apps that found ways to track you even if you opted out.)
Well-designed apps usually do a great job protecting your security and privacy, but you can’t always tell the good apps from the bad ones.
Compared to apps, websites “can’t spy on you or track you as easily, or access sensitive information without permission,” said Chester Wisniewski, digital security specialist at Sophos.
He also said that top web browsers, including Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox and Microsoft’s Edge, have “some of the best security engineers in the world.” Their security measures apply to every website you visit. Each application may be responsible for its own security updates.
Websites are definitely not perfect. They have security holes and tricky ways to track your activity. You can also be scammed by websites that pretend to be your bank or favorite retailer.
But an experienced web browser technologist said browsers are “paranoid by default.” Compared to phone apps, he said browsers give you more options for privacy by dialing in, including by blocking targeted ads. Third parties can also check website security and information sharing activities in ways that apps don’t allow.
(This person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to a journalist.)
Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley’s International Institute for Computer Science, voted “it depends” on whether a website or app is safer.
If you use Firefox or Safari, he said the website is probably better than the app because those browsers automatically block many technologies used to create records of your interests and activities. Weaver said the website is probably worse if you’re using Chrome, as Google’s browser typically allows these tracking technologies.
Google said people have options in Chrome settings to turn off a common tracking technology called cookies. The company said Chrome is also experimenting with removing many cookies.
Frederic Riven, chief technology officer of password management company Dashlane, bucked the crowd and said mobile apps are generally more secure than websites.
He said it’s easier to create a fraudulent website than a fraudulent app, and that Apple and Google place strong restrictions on app coding, while websites have less oversight.
What should you do with this information?
Especially for services you don’t use often, consider whether you need to download an app to your phone or whether you can use the website instead. Also consider deleting apps you don’t use regularly.
Those of you with Android phones are probably using Chrome. If you’re concerned about what Weaver said, follow these instructions to change your phone’s default browser to Firefox or something else.
For iPhone, you can go to the Settings app, select Privacy & Security, then App Privacy Report. This will give you a weekly breakdown of how often apps collect your location, phone contacts, or other information.
The safety issue also highlights the downsides of smartphone apps, including giving Big Tech control over what you do on your phone and potentially increasing subscription costs. That’s why I want us to be open to the promise of potential alternatives to the 15-year status quo of smartphone apps.
Also, let me know if you’re the reader whose question prompted this exploration of apps vs. websites. I can’t find your email!
